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FPS rambling

FPS rambling

I'm playing Serious Sam (PC) again, and it's just what I was in the mood for.

Several years ago, FPS could have gone a couple of different ways. Doom really kicked things off after Wolfenstein started things going, and then games like Heretic continued on in the "lots of enemies, lots of guns" school of game design. Then Quake came along, and with its early polygon engine combined with the lack of 3D power in the then-current PCs, everything shrunk. Fewer enemies, fewer items on screen, smaller arenas to shoot in, etc.

Half Life was the next big game to push things in a direction that just didn't interest me that much. A more military setting led to the Counterstrike mod, and that was the final nail in the FPS coffin for me. I recognize that there are brilliant military FPSes out there, I just don't care in the slightest about playing them.

Then Croteam showed up with their Serious Sam demo, which turned in to Serious Sam and Serious Sam: Second Encounter. It was just what I like in FPS- lots of enemies in huge arenas with tons of firepower. Basically, an arcade game in first person.

And now Serious Sam 2 is coming out this fall and I can't wait. The last time I upgraded my PC was for SS:Second Encounter, and it looks like the increased demands of SS2 will push me into my long-delayed next stage of PC evolution. In the meantime, I'm replaying Serious Sam 1 and having a total ball, and wishing more FPSes had followed in the footsteps of Doom.